Villainous Illusions
May. 20th, 2014 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackIn many fantasy books, there's a moment where the villain tempts the hero with an illusion or a trick, offering the hero some great reward. Lots of money. Join the villain and be their second in command. Have someone you love resurrected. Retire quietly and the villain won't bother you.
But they almost all have something in common: it's something the hero can't actually believe. If the hero was the sort of person who wanted to be rich and famous, they wouldn't normally be the hero. If it's something the hero genuinely wants, it's something it's clear the villain could and would easily renege on.
Much rarer is tricking the hero by offering the sort of mistake they DO tend to make. Offering them the chance for an ill-thought-out rescue mission. Offering them the chance to be all self-sacrificial on behalf of someone else.
I realised my brain does the same thing. I'm rarely tempted by "here's a naughty opportunity to steal a bunch of success". I'm not desperate enough for it, and even if it's offered, I think "oh, it probably won't work, that sort of thing doesn't happen to me".
But even when I'm on the lookout for mistakes, I'm suckered again and again when my brain says something like "oh, don't talk to them, they probably don't want to talk to you, they're just being polite" or "you should half-kill yourself staying up finishing the thing someone SAID they needed you to do, even though you actually know it was a misunderstanding" or "oh, don't bother taking advantage of good luck, you probably don't deserve it".
(To be fair, I do also make the mistake of thinking too often that "thinking very hard" is better than "trying it and seeing what happens".)
But they almost all have something in common: it's something the hero can't actually believe. If the hero was the sort of person who wanted to be rich and famous, they wouldn't normally be the hero. If it's something the hero genuinely wants, it's something it's clear the villain could and would easily renege on.
Much rarer is tricking the hero by offering the sort of mistake they DO tend to make. Offering them the chance for an ill-thought-out rescue mission. Offering them the chance to be all self-sacrificial on behalf of someone else.
I realised my brain does the same thing. I'm rarely tempted by "here's a naughty opportunity to steal a bunch of success". I'm not desperate enough for it, and even if it's offered, I think "oh, it probably won't work, that sort of thing doesn't happen to me".
But even when I'm on the lookout for mistakes, I'm suckered again and again when my brain says something like "oh, don't talk to them, they probably don't want to talk to you, they're just being polite" or "you should half-kill yourself staying up finishing the thing someone SAID they needed you to do, even though you actually know it was a misunderstanding" or "oh, don't bother taking advantage of good luck, you probably don't deserve it".
(To be fair, I do also make the mistake of thinking too often that "thinking very hard" is better than "trying it and seeing what happens".)